The Road is Beautiful for Those Who Walk
Pilgrimage from Macerata to Loreto
is the 38th Macerata-Loreto Pilgrimage on foot. The near-17.5 mile (28 kilometer) pilgrimage is made on foot and at night, concluding at the Shrine of Loreto where the Holy House is.
“I have awaited you day and night”
Dear friends,
Going toward Loreto, you will more easily discover the bottomless depths of your need if you keep before your eyes the witness the Lord has given us to make a human journey today: Pope Francis. Who could have imagined his way of answering the problems of the world and the urgent needs of life? A Jubilee Year of Mercy. “Yes, humanly speaking, it is foolish, but ‘the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men’ (I Cor 1:25).” Let us learn this outlook from the Pope. “That which delights and attracts, that which humbles and overcomes, that which opens and unleashes, is not the power of instruments or the force of law, but rather the omnipotent weakness of divine love, which is the irresistible force of its gentleness and the irrevocable pledge of its mercy.”
The Pilgrimage is a wonderful opportunity to learn to wait for the Lord day and night and to be able to recognize Christ who, coming out to meet us, evokes in us the need to be forgiven, tears us away from our distraction and draws us to Him anew, as He did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. May you relive the experience of the prodigal son on the road toward home, deeply missing his father, as the Pope told us recently, perceiving “how the heart of the Father beats with love for us. It was a heart beating with worry, as he went up onto the roof to look out. What was he looking at? The possible return of his son… Mercy makes us experience our freedom.” In fact, nothing is mechanical, like every step you will take tonight. Your freedom always has to decide what position to take, the boundless gratitude of the prodigal son or the offense taken by the son who remained at home. Gratitude brings you forward, while taking offense blocks you.
May silence and prayer fill you with wonder at God’s beating heart for each of us: it will be like reliving the long journey of Israel to Christ, dominated by an embrace more faithful than our unfaithfulness, “the embrace of the God who creates us, who created us and allowed this mystery of original sin. He allowed this foolishness of disintegration, the inability to achieve unity and perfection, allowed it so as to fill everything with His nature of God, that is, with His mercy” (Fr. Giussani). For this reason, we do not fear. We are not discouraged and do not give up, but we advance in hope. “A total positivity in life must guide the soul of Christians, in any situation, no matter what regrets they may have, no matter what injustices burden them, no matter what darkness or enmity surrounds them, no matter what death assails them, because God, who made all living beings, is for the good. God is the positive hypothesis regarding what we live, even if this positivity at times seems defeated in us by the storms of life” (Fr. Giussani).
Thank you for the testimony you will give, sustained, like Mary, by your yes to Christ, and this alone. As you return to your homes, may your faces shine with an otherwise impossible differentness, a sign of the great attraction of the gaze of Christ, because “mercy is a visceral emotion” (Pope Francis). Among your prayer intentions, please include a special one for Pope Francis and also for me, for the renewal of my “Yes, Lord, You know I love You” for the benefit of your life.
United with you in faith,
Fr. Julian Carron
Good evening, dear friends,
The bishop tells me that it’s raining there, but the rain is also a grace, because it’s bad, but also good! It has two aspects. It’s bad because it’s an annoyance, but it’s good because it’s like the figure of God’s grace that comes upon us. You are now beginning your walk. None of us knows how long our life will last, but it is a journey.
And when one believes he can live his life without walking … One cannot live one’s life standing still. Life is for walking, for doing something, for going forward, for building a social friendship, a just society, for proclaiming Jesus’ Gospel.
I am close to you this evening; I am close to you in my prayer; I accompany you and I wish you a night of prayer and joy. There certainly will also be a bit of suffering, but this is surmounted with the hope of the encounter, tomorrow, with the Eucharistic Jesus.
I bless you! Always walk in life; never, never stop; always be on the way. Life is this!
And pray also for me, that I may not stop and continue to go on the way, the way that the Lord will point out to me.
I give you my blessing, dear friends, and I hope you will have a night of walking, of prayer, of joy, of fraternity and with your look towards Our Lady and towards the Eucharist, which you will receive tomorrow.
Now we pray all together to Our Lady: Ave Maria …
I give you my blessing. May God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless you. And please, don’t forget to pray for me. I embrace you all.
An embrace and pray for me. Good night.
[Pope Francis]
